CHAPTER 265: CHAPTER 264 - EVEN GODS FLINCH.

The cave held its breath.

Raven stood at the edge of the altar, sword raised—still as a statue, calm as a man watching snowfall, even as his pulse thudded like war drums in his ears.

Black fire danced along Omni’s edge, whispering destruction, craving motion. But Raven... didn’t think.

He couldn’t think.

Thinking was dangerous now.

So, he moved.

The blade came down.

Slowly—or so it seemed—the sword arced in the air like a falling comet, cutting a line through the divine silence.

The black fire left a streak behind, and for a moment, the shadows in the cavern recoiled.

Omni screamed with joy in Raven’s hand.

Closer. Closer.

Then, finally, contact.

The edge of Omni touched Ivelia’s throat—

—And stopped.

Like striking a wall of unbreakable glass.

Thunk.

No blood. No mark. Not even a scratch.

Raven’s eyes narrowed.

He gritted his teeth and pressed harder, pouring strength into his arms until his shoulders tensed, the muscles in his back shifting under his clothes.

The result, however, remained the same.

The sword didn’t even dent her skin.

"...The hell?" He muttered.

Ivelia chuckled softly—not the ethereal voice echoing from the walls this time, but her own from the altar.

"You can do that for hours," she said, eyes still closed, tone amused. "And you’ll still be exactly where you started."

Raven stared down at her.

Then he smiled, a lopsided, wolfish grin.

"Oh?" He said, pushing just a bit harder with his sword. "Then why did you flinch a second ago?"

One of Ivelia’s elegant eyebrows twitched.

"I wasn’t flinching," she replied smoothly. "I was preparing. You’re a world-blessed, Raven Von Vaise. You also have an ability that gods would fear. It would’ve been foolish not to brace for a bite."

Raven chuckled low in his throat. "That sounds like flattery, you know."

The black fire dissipated from the blade in an instant, retreating into his forearm with a hiss of scorched air.

But Omni remained on her neck—unmoving.

A beat of silence passed before—

"...When do you plan to remove it?" Ivelia asked. "It won’t harm me, but I still find the gesture rather rude."

Raven scratched the back of his head with one hand, looking sheepish. "Yeah... I should probably stop trying now."

"Yes," she said, amused. "You should."

She chuckled softly.

For a second, it was calm.

Merry, even.

Then Raven’s eyes darkened.

His grin faded. ’She’s relaxed!’

He yelled inwardly—sharp, fast, and electric.

’Now!’

A crackle of energy roared through his arm. His skin shifted—rippling, scaling, and transforming. Black draconic armor laced with Voidfire burst across his flesh.

His divinity burned as Omni flared with new life.

Not fire this time—

But authority.

A scream of divinity so sharp it carved through the laws of nature.

The sword began to glow, not just with flame but purpose—the runes etched into its obsidian surface igniting like the veins of a dying star.

Raven’s arm bulged with power. His eyes turned molten.

Ivelia’s brow furrowed.

"What are you—"

Then she felt it.

Her eyes flew open—glowing, slit-pupiled, and demonic.

"You—!"

The blade moved one millimeter.

KRAKOOOM—!

The air exploded.

The cave screamed as shockwaves tore through the walls. Stone cracked. Dust and divine ash spiraled up like a second storm, wrapping the dais in a cyclone of pressure and light.

Ivelia’s scream cut through the chaos.

"You bastard—!"

Raven roared back, pressing down with everything he had, his body shaking, the scales on his arm cracking from the raw force.

The weight of divinity poured from his soul like magma bursting from the seams.

They couldn’t miss this chance.

Raven acted like a fool, trying to make the goddess believe in him, and gaslighted her into accepting his strike.

But when it did happen, she was too tense, and attacking with Omni god-slaying power at that time would’ve been dangerous.

He wouldn’t even be able to land a hit.

So, he had to make her lower her guard, and as soon as she did, he struck.

This strike was the only chance he could get, and if he failed, he would die, and so would his teammates, who would eventually need to return to this place.

So, letting Omni burn more divinity, Raven roared louder.

The sword bit in.

Millimeter by millimeter.

Even Omni howled like a god dying in reverse.

The altar shattered beneath them.

The wind howled louder.

Then—

Squelch.

Everything stopped.

The dust settled in slow motion, hanging thick in the air like a curtain hiding the aftermath.

Then, there—through the haze—the shape of a divine head tumbled from the altar.

It rolled once... twice... then stopped—silver hair soaked in silence.

The body, however, remained still.

Ivelia, goddess of sorrow, had been slain.

The cavern still screamed with silence.

Dust swirled like spirits around the broken altar, and Raven stood—barely.

His breath came in ragged bursts. Shoulders trembling. Legs aching. Vision flickering at the edges like a candle in the wind.

Then, with a sigh that carried every ounce of exhaustion in his bones, he slumped backward and sat down on the shattered steps of the altar.

His sword still hung loosely in his right hand.

"...Haaah..." Raven exhaled, chest rising and falling slowly. "We... We did it..."

The words felt heavy—like they had to claw their way up his throat to escape.

His eyes, half-lidded and tired, glanced down at the obsidian blade resting across his lap.

"Omni," he murmured with a crooked grin. "You seeing this? We just killed a goddess, man..."

Silence.

The grin began to fade.

"...Omni?"

Still nothing.

His hand tightened around the hilt, his eyes narrowing. "Oi. What’s wrong?"

A pause. Then—

"...Ah."

The voice came—quiet, hesitant. Unusually so.

"...Raven. I... I think I miscalculated something."

Raven stiffened. "Miscalculated what?"

His grip on Omni tightened as his eyes darted around the room, looking for something—anything—suspicious.

Omni, on the other hand, continued, "I... didn’t think that fucking goddess would pull a move like that at the very end, man."

Raven’s jaw tensed. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me she’s still alive?"

He tried to get up, but it looked like he had used up a lot of his energy.

Omni, however, hummed, as if shaking his imaginary head. "...No."

The word lingered in the air like smoke—slow and cold.

Raven blinked.

He tilted his head, wincing from the sharp jolt that followed.

"...Then why do I feel like—"

"...Look down."

His breath caught.

Then, with a confused and a little afraid gaze, Raven slowly turned down.

He saw nothing.

Nothing but a black, gaping hole where his chest and stomach used to be.

Torn open.

A void of scorched flesh and absent organs.

The edges of the wound crackled faintly with residual divine energy, whispering remnants of Ivelia’s final attack—a dying goddess’s last spiteful gift.

The altar behind him was slick with blood he hadn’t even noticed spilling.

Raven stared.

He blinked once.

Twice.

Then softly said, "...Oh."

Another blink.

"...Damn."

The blade slipped from his fingers.

It clattered down the steps.

He followed it a heartbeat later—falling like a marionette with its strings cut.

His body hit the floor with a dull, wet thud.

No scream. No struggle.

Just a boy with silver eyes lying still in a pool of his blood.

Dead.

..............................

A while ago, in Arietta’s divine domain, right after Raven left.

The golden magic trails still shimmered faintly in the air where Raven had vanished, but the silence that followed... wasn’t golden. It was thick. Heavy. Unsettled.

Arietta vanished the moment Raven disappeared.

She probably went to get some beauty sleep so that she would be fresh when Raven returns.

"...Sooo..." Jessy said slowly, holding her tea up and inspecting it like it might contain the answers to life. "Now what?"

"Now we wait," Selena said, crossing her arms with a sigh, though her eyes remained locked on the space Raven had left behind.

"Wait and... trust him?" Clara offered, but it came out like a question.

Graye flopped onto one of the couches, legs spread like she’d just run a marathon. "Yep. He would be back because I love him."

"That doesn’t make any sense at all," Jessy pointed out.

Graye shrugged. "It does to me."

Clara sat down too, hands still clenched. "I mean, he is a reincarnator. He knows the plot. He has cheats. He carried all of us through the last arc."

"Carried?" Alex snorted. "He let us explode our way out of the last trial."

"Exactly," Rufus said with a rare smirk, sipping his tea. "I trust him. He probably already has a thousand-step plan going."

"Besides," Selena added, more to herself, "he said he’d be back. Raven’s not the type to break promises."

Nibbles squeaked from his velvet pillow, nodding sagely.

Myria looked up from her cup of honey-sweet tea. "Is he really going to be okay?"

Clara smiled gently. "He’ll be fine."

"Of course," Alex chimed in confidently—then frowned. "Wait. Didn’t he say something weird earlier?"

Everyone turned to him slowly, like tired cats hearing the sound of a vacuum cleaner powering on.

"...Something about the ruin?" Alex continued, unfazed. "Like, he knew the plot but had no idea what that ruin was? Isn’t that, like... bad?"

The group stared at him.

Selena narrowed her eyes. "Why would you say that out loud?"

"I mean... It’s important context—?"

"Do you want us to panic?!" Jessy snapped.

"That was the least helpful thing you could’ve said," Rufus muttered.

Even Nibbles facepawed.

But before Alex could defend himself—

Lia gasped.

She staggered suddenly, clutching her chest, and fell to her knees like the ground had been yanked from beneath her.

"Big sis?!" Myria rushed to her.

The air thickened.

Everyone moved at once.

Lia’s eyes were wide—frozen in horror, her face pale as snow, her lips barely moving.

"...Raven’s life signature..." She whispered.

The group stilled.

"...It vanished."

Like a divine hammer striking their hearts, the words dropped—

—And detonated.

The entire divine realm trembled as even Arietta heard those words.